Writing: organising 
Intermediate to higher level (B1-C1)

What is most important when you write? Is it grammar or vocabulary? In my opinion it is the organisation of sentences and paragraphs. Without a logical organisation, a piece of writing is often very difficult to read and understand. 

When you start writing English, I recommend you use short sentences and paragraphs. As you get better at writing you can start to write longer sentences. Even native writers can have difficulty writing sentences over 25 words long.

Words like ‘after’, ‘however’ ‘because’ and ‘so’ can link sentences or parts of a sentence. Here is an an example: 

I left the party at 9.00 and looked for a taxi. After 10 minutes I found a taxi and arrived home around 9.30. However, I suddenly realised that I had left my bag at John’s house. I phoned him immediately but he said he couldn’t see it anywhere. I got really worried because in my bag I had my new laptop and some money so I decided to call the police.

Sometimes it is very useful to use expressions like ‘to begin with’, ‘secondly’ and ‘finally’. Let’s look at an example about giving some advice in an email to someone after their first day in a new job.

Hi Matt. Great to meet you today. As you probably guessed, Oxfordtech is a really great company to work for with lots of opportunities to develop. However, I thought I should give you some pointers on how best to get on with our team. To begin with, I ‘d lose the tie because no-one wears one around here. Secondly, I’d be careful what you say to Bill – he’s great at his job but also ultra-sensitive. Finally, you may have noticed that most people don’t turn up until 10 am. Hope this helps. See you tomorrow!